Smart Speaker news and trends

Ex-Apple Designer Plans Launch Of New Home Audio System
Innovation // May 26, 2020

Former Apple design engineer Christopher Stringer — who has over 1,400 patents to his name — is developing a smart speaker that will compete with Apple’s HomePod, according to a report in the Financial Times (FT), citing sources familiar with the matter. An Australian native...

Today In Payments: Banks Brace For Forbearance Program Expiry Dates; Shopify To Launch Merchant Banking,...
News // May 21, 2020

In today’s top news, banks brace for the end of their mortgage forbearance program, and Shopify launched a business account for merchants and POS credit system. Plus, bitcoin transferred over the dark web was up 65 percent in the first quarter of 2020. Banks Brace...

Today In Payments: Mastercard To Join China’s $27T Payments Market; Uber, Postmates Lose Bid To...
News // February 11, 2020

In today’s top payments news, Mastercard was approved for a bank card clearing business in China, and a judge rejected Uber and Postmates’ request to stop California’s new gig economy law. Also, the Department of Justice charged four Chinese intelligence officers with the 2017 cyberattack on...

Amazon Expected To Control 70 Pct Of US Smart Speaker Market By Next Year
Amazon // February 11, 2020

Amazon holds the dominant edge in the market for smart speakers, as about 70 percent of people in the U.S. who use the devices are using an Amazon Echo, according to a report Monday (Feb. 9) by eMarketer. That makes the online retail behemoth the...

Interviews & Exclusives
Today In Payments: Mastercard To Join China’s $27T Payments Market; Uber, Postmates Lose Bid To Halt Gig Worker Law

February 11, 2020
In today’s top payments news, Mastercard was approved for a bank card clearing business in China, and a judge rejected Uber and Postmates’ request to stop California’s new gig economy law. Also, the Department of Justice charged four Chinese intelligence officers with the 2017 cyberattack on credit reporting giant Equifax. Mastercard Gets Nod To Join China’s […]

Can Google Keep Up In The Jammed AI Voice Race?

August 28, 2019
Since Google launched its smart speaker artificial intelligence (AI)-backed voice assistant product Google Home in November 2016, the state of the race for voice ecosystem dominance has been relatively consistent...

Semafone’s Dos And Don’ts Of The Voice Challenge With Amazon Alexa

March 20, 2018
Hello there. Hey. Hi. How ya doin’? If you’re a human, these greetings likely mean the same thing to you — but if you’re a voice-activated assistant, things may not...

Voice Commerce: User First, Channel Second

March 06, 2018
When working with an emerging technology – like voice-activated AI, for example – it is easy to get one’s head turned by novelty. The experience itself is highly novel –...

Quick Reads
Ex-Apple Designer Plans Launch Of New Home Audio System

May 26, 2020
Former Apple design engineer Christopher Stringer — who has over 1,400 patents to his name — is developing a smart speaker that will compete with Apple’s HomePod, according to a report in the Financial Times (FT), citing sources familiar with the matter. An Australian native who studied in England, Stringer spent over two decades working […]

Amazon Expected To Control 70 Pct Of US Smart Speaker Market By Next Year

February 11, 2020
Amazon holds the dominant edge in the market for smart speakers, as about 70 percent of people in the U.S. who use the devices are using an Amazon Echo, according...

China Surpasses US In Smart Speaker Shipments

May 21, 2019
China has surpassed the United States to lead the smart speaker market. According to new data from Canalys, China’s smart speaker shipments grew by 500 percent in Q1 2019 to...

Cedars-Sinai Tests Smart Hospital Rooms With Alexa

February 26, 2019
Cedars-Sinai, a hospital in Los Angeles, California, has begun a pilot program that placed an Amazon Echo in 100 patient rooms for hands-free nurse interaction and entertainment control, the hospital...